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Lat Pulldown

Beginner

A machine pull that builds the lats without needing full pull-up strength yet.

Target muscles

Lats

Calories burned

~8 kcal / set

Secondary muscles

Biceps, Shoulders

Equipment

Machine

Goal

Muscle Gain

Sets / Reps

3 × 10-12

Benefits

  • • Great entry point for building pull-up strength
  • • Adjustable resistance for progressive overload

Step by step

  1. 1Sit at the machine and grip the bar wider than shoulder-width.
  2. 2Lean back slightly and pull the bar down toward your upper chest.
  3. 3Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the bottom.
  4. 4Slowly let the bar rise back to the starting position.

Breathing guide

Exhale as you pull down, inhale as you release.

Common mistakes

  • • Pulling with the arms instead of the back
  • • Leaning back excessively

Safety tips

  • • Lead the pull with your elbows.
  • • Avoid letting the weight stack slam between reps.

Variations

  • • Close-grip lat pulldown
  • • Single-arm lat pulldown

Related exercises

Deadlift

4 × 5-8

Pull-up

3 × 6-10

Bent-over Row

4 × 8-10

Seated Cable Row

3 × 10-12